Are Macs really 100% secure?

When I encounter people who use Macs, I usually hear that one advantage of them is that they are far more secure than Windows or Linux. I decided to do some home and went looking for security issues where either Web pages allow viruses to be installed or attacks where one can remotely hack into a machine. Searching around, I've seen tons of them for Windows, some for Linux, but absolutely zero for Mac OS, especially after OS X.

Are Macintoshes truly 100% secure as proponents claim? If so, the Apple premium may be worth it.

When I encounter people who use Macs, I usually hear that one advantage of them is that they are far more secure than Windows or Linux. I decided to do some home and went looking for security issues where either Web pages allow viruses to be installed or attacks where one can remotely hack into a machine. Searching around, I've seen tons of them for Windows, some for Linux, but absolutely zero for Mac OS, especially after OS X.

Are Macintoshes truly 100% secure as proponents claim? If so, the Apple premium may be worth it.

while a Mac running OS X may be (and probably is) "safer" than a Windows PC, it's not because it's any better or more secure in a real sense. it's just it's easier to write malware for Windows, and there's a lot more potential victims (so it's more fun).

i like Macs, and usually recommend them to prospective computer users. but i'm on an aging Windows box now and my Mac is set up to dual-boot into XP Pro.

don't use the current lack of virii to justify a Mac - use the fact they're better computers for many people. unless you need/want to do one of the things PCs excel at.

Stay off the porn sites and you won't have any problems regardless of the OS you're using.

Kidding aside, Macs are only perceived as secure because they have such a small (but growing) share of the home PC market. They are basically ignored by hackers and Russian code monkeys, and hence they have a 'passive' security system.

But...

I've been running XP home edition for the past year and a half, since I built this PC, while using Firefox with a few plugins installed (NoScript and FlashBlock among them), I have yet to run into any problems.

Is the Apple Premium worth it? For some it maybe, especially if you have lots of disposable income, but for me it certain wouldn't make sense since my comp is way faster than what I could have gotten for the same dollar amount from Apple.

I would agree with the poster who mentioned that Macs are left alone because they are relatively rare.

If the market develops where there are a larger proportion of Macs, then there will surely be more viruses targetting them.

Someone really looking to spread a virus or malware targets the most likely systems... and that isn't the Mac... although the first few to really impact MAC users will take quite a while to get under control since so few on that platform have protective software.

I wrote a virus detection packaqe for Solaris once... It printed one dot per file read until the end, and then proclaimed no virus found... Not that the platform is invulnerable, but who writes a virus for a specific flavor of Unix???

I have been on PCs since DOS days, and online since before there was an internet, and I have only had a couple of infections from relatively low damage programs... I always run virus protection etc, but if it weren't so inexpensive, I would probably skip it since there is not that much out there that will do harm unless you go to warez or porn sites... and I visit neither type.

Most of the dingle berries that spend the money on macs are the fools who don't know anything about computers in the first place. Why would you believe what comes out of their mouth then in regards to any level of security?

Macs are viewed as being secure because apple only has an 8% market share. Why would you attack 8% of the market when you can do the same to the 65% of the world that runs Windows...

Most of the dingle berries that spend the money on macs are the fools who don't know anything about computers in the first place. Why would you believe what comes out of their mouth then in regards to any level of security?

Macs are viewed as being secure because apple only has an 8% market share. Why would you attack 8% of the market when you can do the same to the 65% of the world that runs Windows...

I really wish PC people would stop name calling mac users. What is the point? Go pick on Sun Microsystems for a while.

Why would you attack 8% of the market when you can do the same to the 65% of the world that runs Windows...

For the same reason that so many people would take the time and effort to programme a virus solely for the malicious purpose of inflicting havoc on PC's; because they hate them. Obviously there just aren't enough (or apparently any) computer savvy programmers who hate macs enough to programme a virus for them (yes, unlike PC's). In a way, the PC's and the ppl who use them are really just getting what they deserve .. they helped to create these plagues - now you need to find ways of living with them. good luck with that.

Well when you say secure you need to qualify against what? Against viruses it is more "secure", by main virtue of most people not bothering to write for Macs. Is it secure against cross site scripting, and other browser related fun? No. If you want a relatively safe browsing experience turn off JavaScript, and java.

Most of the dingle berries that spend the money on macs are the fools who don't know anything about computers in the first place. Why would you believe what comes out of their mouth then in regards to any level of security?

Macs are viewed as being secure because apple only has an 8% market share. Why would you attack 8% of the market when you can do the same to the 65% of the world that runs Windows...

Riiigghhhttt......

P.S. 14% of the market. Uh oh. At that rate, Macs will be >50% of the market in 7-8 years.

Stay tuned junior. Have Daddy buy you some Apple stock while it's cheap.

Most of the dingle berries that spend the money on macs are the fools who don't know anything about computers in the first place. Why would you believe what comes out of their mouth then in regards to any level of security?

Macs are viewed as being secure because apple only has an 8% market share. Why would you attack 8% of the market when you can do the same to the 65% of the world that runs Windows...

what's with the hate speech, dude? i've been using Macs since 1984 and know quite a bit about computers.

though i couldn't tell you jack about the latest games for Windows, so maybe i'm an idiot.